The second day of running in Bahrain Test for F1 2025 saw some rain disruption, but the drivers and teams had another solid time to collect data and prepare themselves.
The Day 2 in Bahrain Test saw further data collection and learning despite rain interruption during the morning hours. Unlike the 20 drivers running on Day 1, it was 18 on Day 2 where Red Bull fielded only Liam Lawson and Williams ran only Carlos Sainz for the whole day.
The Spaniard took the top spot after healthy running ahead of his former team Ferrari, where Lewis Hamilton was second and Charles Leclerc in third. Much like the first day, there was no trouble on the second day as well in terms of reliability and also incidents causing stoppages.
There were teething problems for few of the drivers like Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda and Oliver Bearman, but none which kept them in the garage for long. They still managed to get through as much of their programme ahead of the final day of running on Friday.
Elsewhere, Alpine confirmed the arrival of Dave Greenwood as its Sporting Director after his last F1 work with Manor in 2019. Also, Aston Martin welcomed Garry Gannon as Lance Stroll’s race engineer – moving over from Haas. Andrew Vizard moved to Fernando Alonso’s side after Chris Cronin taking up the role of chief engineer.
Carlos Sainz: “It was a very long day here in Bahrain, with us covering a lot of laps. A few stoppages due to the rain and the wind were not ideal to get into the rhythm but overall, we managed to complete a good programme. Although timesheets are not fully representative in Pre-season Testing, we made some progress relative to yesterday, improving the balance and overall feeling of the car. However, it doesn’t feel like enough testing to be honest. Next thing for me is Australia and I wish I had more time to better understand the car and how it reacts to different set up changes. Having said that, I feel as ready as I can be and I can’t wait to push flat out already in race one!”
Lewis Hamilton: “It’s been another positive day for us in Bahrain. We’re making strong progress in understanding the SF-25 and learning how to get the most out of it, and the reliability is good so far which is a really positive sign. We didn’t get to do as much running as we hoped because of the weather, but we have more time on track tomorrow to work through our programme and to build even more comfort in the car. I’m really enjoying working with the team and we’re all looking forward to the final push tomorrow.”
Charles Leclerc: “It was more tricky today on track, because of what are unusual weather conditions for Bahrain, with cooler temperatures and even some rain. We ran through our planned programme, but with the conditions changing quickly, it was difficult to draw many conclusions. Tonight we are fully focused on analysing our data and preparing for the last day of testing tomorrow.”
Liam Lawson: “I am getting more comfortable in the car, it has been a busy day overall. As part of testing, we were fighting a few teething gremlins with the car through the day, it’s all about just learning about the new car. A few of our runs were cut short a little bit and we had to deal with the weather too, which wasn’t great timings for our run plan, as I imagine was the case for most of the pitlane. All this work is extremely valuable going into Melbourne and we feel in a positive place. This is all the most important stuff when it comes to pre-season, this will be the last time I drive the car before Melbourne, to get things right and we are going to take from all of it, to put together the best-balanced car for the first race.”
Isack Hadjar: “Another good day. I was very happy with my race simulation as my lap times were very consistent while running three different tyre compounds. After that, we switched to doing shorter runs on various compounds, which presented different challenges because of the rain. We identified areas where I still have things to learn but I’m quite happy with my afternoon in general and I look forward to continuing that process tomorrow.”
Yuki Tsunoda: “Slightly trickier today than the first day. We had some issues to deal with early on and then there was the rain for a while, which is definitely unexpected in the Middle East. But finding issues early and fixing them is what testing is all about. So we kept calm and got on with the job, focussing on what we had to do. That’s the right attitude that we must stick to throughout the season. We were still able to gather plenty of data and learn more about our car, moving forward from where we were yesterday. A positive day overall with more to come tomorrow.”
Oscar Piastri: “A trickier day due to the weather. The temperature and rain made it harder to maximise our testing time in my session, but we were still able to work through a lot and achieve a decent amount. I’m looking forward to getting back on track tomorrow afternoon and hopefully pushing the car further to see what we can get out of it before we head to Australia. Overall, it was a productive day.”
Lando Norris: “Another productive day on track with good learnings. We were able to get a decent number of laps in with a long run, and I got the feeling of using some different tyre compounds. I think we’ve learned a lot from that, and getting the experience of doing the full race run was very valuable. Good feelings so far, we’ve now got one more day to go to make sure we end the week strongly.”
Oliver Bearman: “It was another solid day with the wind dropping a bit, the track made a big step from when I drove yesterday so I’m happy to be back in the car. We made some good progress on race trim, and although there was a small issue at the end which I lost a bit of running with, we’re looking into it, and it should be fine for tomorrow. Yesterday it was hard to judge with the wind and the track being so green but now I have a bit of a better idea and I’m happy, it feels like a continuation of what I’ve felt over the years with the team, having driven the VF-23 and the VF-24. I’m still feeling very confident with how the long runs went today.”
Esteban Ocon: “I’ve been experiencing it all today, with cold conditions, wind and rain. We stuck to the long runs, trying to work on our side with Ollie continuing that work into the afternoon. What’s very good is that we’re on the same page with what needs improving – there’s lots of positive as well – but it’s important to try and improve what’s needed. It’s a steep learning curve so early in the season but it’s been good so far and trouble-free. It’s been nice experiencing the car in proper conditions and working with the team on details. I’ve had my way of working and the teams had theirs, so we need to align and understand each other once I’m inside the car – and that’s what we’ve been doing.”
Dave Robson: “Despite the unusual sight of rain falling in Bahrain, we were able to complete most of the intended programme without issue. The car ran reliably again, which is testament to its design and the efforts of all those involved in building it, including the team of mechanics here at the track that work through the nights to prepare the car and the test items. Carlos drove the full day today and was able to build on his experience from yesterday to explore more of what the FW47 can do. Rather than complete a race simulation, we chose a higher fuel level to complete running, which gave us a chance to experiment with setup and tyre management. The car was working reasonably well today but we know that there will be significant differences between our run plan and that of our competitors. We are well aware that the final timesheet is not representative of how qualifying will play out in Melbourne. Alex will take over tomorrow and can build on a very solid platform that Carlos and his team have evolved today. We expect it to be dry and warmer tomorrow but with some challenging wind gusts, which will provide another set of conditions in which to test the FW47.”
Andy Cowell: “It was more tricky today on track, because of what are unusual weather conditions for Bahrain, with cooler temperatures and even some rain. We ran through our planned programme, but with the conditions changing quickly, it was difficult to draw many conclusions. Tonight we are fully focused on analysing our data and preparing for the last day of testing tomorrow.”
Pierre Wache: “We decided to do a full day with Liam today, to continue to prepare him ahead of the season. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t great, with some rain at the beginning of the day, so we decided to do a race simulation, to get Liam up to speed with long runs and to check the car for general reliability across race distance. In the afternoon, our aim was to understand the car with the C3 compound and the set up options and to also explore the set up of the car in general. We had wanted to get a total insight into the car today, and understand its full direction, but it was also difficult to judge the performance of the car in these conditions and get a lot of the temperature on the tyres. But Liam responded well today and his feedback was very close to Max’s. We have good understandings to take into the final day of Testing now, with Max at the wheel.”
Dave Greenwood: “We managed to complete most of our programme today despite the challenging conditions where air and track temperatures were low and the high winds persisted like we have seen all week. It is not often it rains here in Bahrain and we reacted well to tailor our programme to the changing conditions. The wet track impacted Pierre’s running in the morning session, limiting him to 40 laps, which was well short of what we had planned and didn’t allow us to complete some of our tests which required stable track conditions. Nevertheless, we were still able to run through some useful tests this morning and he will be back in the car tomorrow afternoon to conclude the three days with plenty of important work to do now in that final session. This afternoon we focused on race weekend scenarios for Jack to continue his preparation ahead of Melbourne. Jack will be back on track tomorrow morning looking to keep building his experience and continue developing the A525 package.”
Alan Permane: “Another good day, making progress with both drivers. Of course, the rain affected the morning session a little bit and that held the programme up for Yuki, but we were still able to work through a range of set-up options, making good steps forward and improvements with the car. In the afternoon, Isack completed a full race distance with pit stops, running a two-stop simulation. The day provided plenty of learning for Isack relating to tyre management and the differences between the compounds that Pirelli have available here. After that, the programme shifted to set-up work and pit stops. A solid day’s testing with more to come tomorrow.”
Andrea Stella: “Another productive day of testing, despite the changing conditions. The brief periods of rain made it challenging at times this morning, which cost some track time for Oscar, but the team did a good job adapting our run plan accordingly. This afternoon, we focused a little more on longer runs, and overall, we have consolidated yesterday’s testing with further data as we learn more about the MCL39.”
Ayao Komatsu: “There were tricky conditions out there today with intermittent rain, so we did the best we could. We largely carried on from yesterday’s program and made progress with Esteban this morning. In the afternoon with Ollie, we continued with some test items which we got answers for, which is great. Unfortunately, just before the end of the day we had a slight car issue, so we had to stop running 20 minutes before the end of the session. We’ll fix it tonight and get going tomorrow though. I have to say, today’s test items and run program – we completed around 80 percent so it’s not been bad. Tomorrow, we’re going to look at car balance on short run performance in combination with race simulations.”
Here’s how Bahrain Test Day 2 panned out
Here’s what was said after Day 1 in Bahrain F1 Test
Here’s how Bahrain Test Day 1 panned out
Here’s Bahrain Test line-up
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